THE ORGAN MUSIC SOCIETY OF SYDNEY INC.


ABN 18 754 002 095
Incorporating the American Guild of Organists (Sydney Chapter)
GPO Box 2348 Sydney NSW 2001

Telephone: 61 2 9412 4548 Email: OrganSec@tpg.com.au
Website: www.sydneyorgan.com Patron: Dame Gillian Weir


SYDNEY ORGAN COMPETITION ~ 2007

Junior and Intermediate Sections - Saturday 2nd June, 10.30 am at Christ Church St Laurence, George Street, near Railway Square.

Open Section - Sunday 3rd June, 3.30 pm at The Great Hall, University of Sydney.

Admission is free to members of the Society, friends and members of the public, who will be most welcome at any or all of the Sections. In fact, the OMSS Committee is most anxious to have substantial audiences at all Sections to encourage the contestants. Why not make a note in your diary now and make a point of attending? You will be rewarded with a treat of music.

The Sydney Organ Competition is administered by the Organ Music Society of Sydney Incorporated.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Entry forms may be obtained upon application to the Secretary, Mr Geoff Lloyd, by email organsec@tpg.com.au or telephone (02) 9476 1530 or may be downloaded here. Click here for the Entry Form for the Junior and Intermediate Sections and here for the Entry Form for the Open Section. A specification for the organ of either venue is also available upon request or can be obtained from the Society Webpage (see links below and above).

Each Entry, which must include a completed entry form and payment for the appropriate entry fee (either by cheque or money order payable to The Organ Music Society of Sydney Inc.), should be forwarded to: The Secretary, The Organ Music Society of Sydney Inc., GPO Box 2348, Sydney, NSW 2001.

The Closing Date for entries is 27th April 2007 (Open Section) or 4th May 2007 (Junior and Intermediate Sections). Each entry must be postmarked no later than the closing date for the section being entered.

It is deemed that each entrant has read, understands and agrees to abide by the terms of this Information and the Rules and Conditions appended hereto. Be aware that changes may have been made to this issue of the document. Also, please note that limits to playing times during the competition will be strictly enforced.

Competitors' identities will be known to the adjudicator/s.


JUNIOR SECTION
This Section is open to organists fifteen (15) years of age or younger at the closing date.

PRIZES:
The Organ Music Society of Sydney Prize - $200.
The Organ Music Society of Sydney Encouragement Award - $75.
Ron Roberts Prize* - $75. The Ron Roberts Prize may be awarded for the best performance of a Baroque work.
*Made available through the kind generosity of Betty Roberts.

REPERTOIRE: Two (2) contrasting pieces or movements (one Baroque) with a total playing time, including pauses between pieces, not to exceed ten (10) minutes.

COMPETITION ORGAN: The organ in Christ Church St Laurence is by Hill & Son (1891). It is of three manuals and pedals with mechanical and tubular pneumatic action.

ADJUDICATOR: Philip Matthias.

PRACTICE TIME AT THE VENUE: One (1) session of one (1) hour during the week prior to the competition. Teachers should contact Godelieve Ghavalas, telephone: (02) 9871 0825, to arrange suitable times. Due to time constraints, no warm-up time has been allowed on the day of the competition.

ENTRY FEE: $20


INTERMEDIATE SECTI0N
This Section is open to organists eighteen (18) years of age or younger at the closing date.

PRIZES: The Doris and George Vern-Barnett Memorial Prize* - $500
The Organ Music Society of Sydney Encouragement Award - $150
*Made available through the kind generosity of the Vern-Barnett family.

REPERTOIRE: Two (2) contrasting pieces or movements (one by J. S. Bach) with a total playing time, including pauses between pieces, not to exceed fifteen (15) minutes.

COMPETITION ORGAN: The organ in Christ Church St Laurence is by Hill & Son (1891). It is of three manuals and pedals with mechanical and tubular pneumatic action.

ADJUDICATOR: Philip Matthias.

PRACTICE TIME AT THE VENUE: One (1) session of one (1) hour during the week prior to the competition. Teachers should contact Godelieve Ghavalas, telephone: (02) 9871 0825, to arrange suitable times. Due to time constraints, no warm-up time has been allowed on the day of the competition.

ENTRY FEE: $20.


OPEN SECTION
This Section is open to all organists and is conducted in two rounds. Round 1 is by submission of a recording with the application and before the closing date as specified above. Round 2 will be by public performance during the Open Section.

PRIZES:
The John Brown Organist's Award* - $1,000
The Jessie Lyle Marsh First Encouragement Award* - $600
The Jessie Lyle Marsh Second Encouragement Award* - $400
The Australia Prize^ - $500
*Made available through the kind generosity of the Federated Music Clubs of Australia - NSW Council Inc.
^The Australia Prize may be awarded for the best performance of an Australian organ work written after 1980 of at least five (5) minutes duration.

REPERTOIRE – ROUND 1: Recorded, to cassette tape or compact disc (CD) and without editing except for the turning on and off of the recording machine between pieces, on any organ of the competitor's choice. The recording must be made within the twelve months prior to the closing date. A witness must be present during the recording and certify as to its veracity on the application form. That witness may operate the recording equipment. The tape or CD must bear no markings other than its proprietary information and “Sydney Organ Competition 2007” written thereon. The recording must be transmitted to the Secretary together with the application form. Recordings will be returned to competitors after the competition only if requested at the time of the application.


Four (4) works: (a) Either Wie schon leuchtet der Morgenstern (D. Buxtehude) or Offertoire sur les grands jeux from Messe pour les Paroisses (F. Couperin); (b) First movement of any Trio Sonata (J. S. Bach); (c) Das alte Jahr vergangen ist from the Orgelbuchlein (J. S. Bach); (d) Any final movement from a Romantic Symphony or Sonata written after 1850.
Total playing time, including pauses between pieces, not to exceed twenty-five (25) minutes.

A maximum of three (3) competitors will be chosen for Round 2.

REPERTOIRE - ROUND 2: Public concert at the designated venue.

Three (3) works: (a) J. S. Bach - any free work with pedal part, other than a Trio Sonata; (b) Any work or movement written in the period 1800 - 1940; (c) Any work or movement written after 1940.
Total playing time, including pauses between pieces, not to exceed thirty-five (35) minutes.

NOTES ON THE REPERTOIRE:
(a) No work, or part of a work, from Round 1 may be repeated in Round 2.
(b) The definition of "work" includes multi-movement pieces as well as a selection of movements from such a piece.
(c) Programs must demonstrate as wide a variety of styles, textures and moods as possible.
(d) In both rounds, the content and order of the program is at the competitor's discretion, and should indicate an awareness of successful and satisfying programming.
(e) A work considered for The Australia Prize will be the submitted choice for Round 2(c).

COMPETITION ORGAN FOR ROUND 2: The Rudolf von Beckerath organ in The Great Hall, The University of Sydney was built in 1972 and refurbished in 1995. It has 53 speaking stops spread over Great, Ruckpositiv (unenclosed), Swell (enclosed) and Pedal. The key action is mechanical with electric coupling while the stop action is electric. Sufficient memory levels exist (128) for each competitor to store all registrations during the initial practice session.

ADJUDICATOR: Paul Jacobs, Head of the Organ Department of the Julliard School of Music, New York, USA.

PRACTICE TIME AT THE VENUE: (a) Two ninety (90) minutes sessions in the week prior to the competition. (b) One thirty-five (35) minutes warm-up session on the competition day prior to the commencement of the Section.
Please contact Amy Johansen, telephone: (02) 4758 6067, to organise times.
Warm-ups will take place in the same order as the competition performances.

ENTRY FEE: $50

RULES AND CONDITIONS as related to all Sections of the Competition
1. The Competition will be administered by, and under the control of, The Committee of The Organ Music Society of Sydney Incorporated, hereinafter called the Committee.
2. The Committee reserves the right to decline any entry.
3. The decision of the Adjudicator is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
4. A competitor may not enter a Section where that competitor has been a student of that Section's adjudicator at any time during this calendar year.
5. Entries must be accompanied by the full entry fee for the Section and no accepted entry will be refunded.
6. Copies of all music to be performed must be made available to the Adjudicator prior to the performance. To this end, copies shall be handed to the Secretary prior to commencement of the Section, at which time the competitor’s presence will be noted. Responsibility for obtaining the necessary permission to copy music rests with the competitor.
7. Where anonymity applies, these music copies shall contain no identifying markings.
8. Where applicable, the onus of choosing suitable music rests with the competitor and will be taken into consideration in the adjudication.
9. Playing time limits must be strictly observed, with breaches of these limits causing automatic disqualification.
10. The Organ Music Society of Sydney Inc., its representatives, the adjudicator/s, the University of Sydney and Christ Church St Laurence do not accept any public liability risk.
11. All instructions given by members of the Committee and/or stage managers must be strictly observed.
12. The Organ Music Society of Sydney Inc. reserves the right to amend the rules as it deems necessary.
13. The contestant may invite one person to be present at the console during the contest to assist as a page-turner. A page-turner will not be allowed to offer any assistance with registration, either by stop or by piston.
14. An assistant will not be allowed to operate any swell mechanism.
15. The use of cameras and camera-phones, video cameras and video-phones and sound recorders and the like during the competition is prohibited without prior written consent of the Committee. Any such permission may contain provisions as to assignment of copyright.
16. Any competitor who behaves in a manner contrary to the spirit of the event or breaches any of these rules may be disqualified.
17. Teachers are kindly requested to ensure that students intending to enter the Competition are of suitable standard.
18. Subject to the number of applications received, the Committee reserves the right to conduct elimination rounds even if prior provision for such rounds has not been made.
19. The order of performance will be decided by draw conducted by the Committee.


Addendum [20070224] Please note that, as an alternative to payment by cheque/money order, we also are able to accept payment by internet transfer. Details are given on the application forms. We regret that we do not have credit card facilities.